Inside Ananya Panday’s first home in Mumbai designed by Gauri Khan

When she lived at home with her parents, Ananya Panday often allowed herself to think about what things she would do differently, in her own unique way, if she had her own place. “He seems so silly and small, but I wanted to buy my own cutlery and greet people in a certain way,” he says. Now sitting in the living room of her first home, a breezy one-bedroom apartment just a few floors from her parents’ house in Bandra, Mumbai, the 25-year-old actress tells us that this new acquisition happened quite naturally, as he had his interiors done by designer and old family friend Gauri Khan.

Having started her acting career in 2019, with the Karan Johar production Student of the Year 2, Panday is now at an exciting point in her career. Her portrayal of a young woman in her twenties in the coming-of-age film Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, which premiered on Netflix in December 2023, has been called by many critics as her best performance yet. She is a global brand ambassador for Jimmy Choo and Swarovski, among other names, and also made her international runway debut in Paris at Haute Couture Spring/Summer Fashion Week in January 2024, walking the ramp for designer Rahul Mishra. It seems like a good time to get her own place. “I think she has become a symbol and a metaphor for how I grew up and took on responsibilities,” she repeats.

“I wanted people to come in and say, we imagined your house would be exactly like this; an extension of my personality,” says Panday. If the big pink door at the entrance doesn’t give it away, Panday’s house is undeniably “feminine” in an effortless way, reminiscent of recent trends that unabashedly reclaim elements associated with childhood: dusty pinks, flowers, ribbons, big bows. – as eye-catching design features. The pink continues down the main hallway and appears as accent walls in the walk-in closet, which she acknowledges is possibly “every girl’s dream,” as well as the bedroom. Also along the hallway is a small but well-equipped kitchen with baby blue shelving and white countertops. Giving us a tour of the house, Panday stops here to tell us that she recently loves baking and lists baking cookies and enjoying a good meal among her favorite ways to relax.

A controlled color palette runs throughout the rest of the home, although it has a rich and diverse texture with waves along certain walls, wallpapers, plush furniture and rugs. The living and dining areas, into which the hallway opens, are decorated almost entirely in beiges and creams, with bespoke furniture from Gauri Khan Designs. A separate television area sits at the other end of the living room and houses Panday’s growing book collection. Also extending from the living room is a large balcony dotted with plants and a good amount of seating space.

Gauri Khan was the obvious choice for the interiors. Having done homes for Karan Johar, Ranbir Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Siddharth Malhotra and others, Khan seems to be the undisputed queen of Bollywood home interiors, and having a space with her signature designs almost serves as a rite of passage into the industry. . Aside from that, Panday shares a deeply personal relationship with the designer. After all, Panday’s parents, Chunky Panday and Bhavana Panday, have been long-time friends of Khan and her husband, Shah Rukh Khan. “Honestly, I didn’t have to tell her much because I grew up with her and she’s been like another mother to me. I think she understood it from the beginning. And she was very open to collaboration, open to ideas, open to debates,” explains Ananya Panday.